Chapter 112: The Devil's Key [Third Update]

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Fang Nian stared at the now incredibly rich system menu, grinning from ear to ear, even bursting into laughter in the back seat of the taxi. The driver, seeing this, thought he had picked up a madman and promptly ignored him.

Fang Nian, noticing the changes on the menu, first checked for any physical changes as usual. After his Qi cultivation was complete, he felt internal transformations, while the system’s enhancements manifested externally.

To confirm his body's strength, Fang Nian deliberately scratched the sharp corner inside the taxi. As the system had claimed, only a white scratch appeared on the skin—no injury at all. Truly thick-skinned and tough.

“This body is definitely going to be more useful in fights from now on.”

Next, Fang Nian tested his five senses and was overwhelmed with excitement. The enhancement of the five senses had saved his life during crises before. He could feel that his vision had grown sharper, his hearing much keener. The best part was that he seemed to control these senses at will, like adjusting the volume on a television—amplify when needed, reduce when not. Truly convenient.

Of course, Fang Nian was already accustomed to the improvement of his five senses. Though still pleasantly surprised, he did not expect anything extraordinary.

But the acquisition of the sixth sense genuinely thrilled him to the point of near fainting.

Fang Nian understood the sixth sense as the common term for “extrasensory perception,” also known as “psychic intuition.” This ability allows reception of information through channels beyond normal senses and can foresee upcoming events, unrelated to prior experience or inference.

Normal human senses (five senses) include eyes (vision), ears (hearing), nose (smell), tongue (taste), skin (touch), or other scientifically recognized senses.

Because the definition of senses is vague, so is that of “extrasensory.” Usually, “extrasensory” refers to information beyond current scientific understanding, resembling supernatural abilities studied in modern research.

On March 19, 2019, a team at Caltech published research confirming the human brain can sense magnetic fields and responds strongly to changes—marking the first scientific validation of the “sixth sense” of magnetoreception.

However, the sixth sense Fang Nian received was distinct. According to the system’s explanation, the sixth sense is divided into stages: first stage magnetic sense, second stage light sense, third stage precognition, fourth stage premonition, fifth stage clairvoyance, and sixth stage unknown.

Fang Nian could understand from the terms what each stage represented: sensing magnetic fields, detecting light sources, foreseeing the future, perceiving imminent events, and communicating with other species spiritually.

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If Fang Nian acquired all five of these abilities, he would be considered truly extraordinary—the impact within the hunting grounds would be immense, no doubt.

But the final, sixth stage eluded his understanding. It was likely the pinnacle of human perception. If obtained, would one perceive all as a god does? Fang Nian had no idea. For now, it remained a distant dream.

Regarding professions, Fang Nian’s hunter rank had risen, the codebreaker profession unlocked, and his warrior class had made breakthroughs in combat practice. He believed future hunts would be more skillful, and the dream of becoming an all-round ace might soon be realized.

At this thought, Fang Nian realized that, unknowingly, he had already become a formidable hunter. While not terrifyingly powerful, at least within District 16, it was difficult to find opponents worthy of his attention.

Of course, if comparing specific skills, Fang Nian would be cautious to speak recklessly. Take Duan Rui, for instance. Though Fang Nian’s codebreaking might rival hers, when faced with specialized or technical problems, he was helpless—like when opening that mobile cabin; Duan Rui only needed a small gadget to unlock it.

Also, as a hunter, possessing logical thinking was essential. Fang Nian had already raised this skill to the second stage. His responsiveness was far beyond ordinary folk, and his speed in untangling logical sequences had more than doubled.

He also had some understanding of his newly acquired “Reverse Thinking.”

Reverse thinking, also known as divergent thinking, is a way of considering things or opinions that seem established by turning them around. It dares to “think against the grain,” letting thoughts develop in the opposite direction, exploring deeply from the contrary side, establishing new ideas, and creating new images.

When everyone thinks in one fixed direction, but you alone think in the opposite, that is reverse thinking. People habitually consider problems along the natural progression of things, seeking solutions that way.

In truth, for certain special problems, reasoning backward from the conclusion, thinking in reverse—from solution back to known conditions—may simplify the problem.

This is the essence of “Reverse Thinking.” Undoubtedly, Fang Nian’s acquisition of this skill would make him more rational in future hunts, and its development was crucial for expanding the hunting grounds.

However, what Fang Nian most eagerly wanted to improve now was his hunter grounds constructor rank. The hunting grounds he could command were far too few. So his most pressing goal was to raise his constructor level.

Like the latest hunting ground template he had just acquired.

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The “Ancient Battlefield” hunting ground template’s content was hidden and required the host’s constructor level to reach “moderately accomplished” before it could be viewed. (Construction fee: 500,000 Hope Coins.)

New types of hunting grounds and unpredictable content greatly piqued Fang Nian’s interest. Previously, he had spent 50,000 Hope Coins to purchase the “Mysterious Escape Camp,” which was already rated as D-level.

What level could a 500,000 Hope Coins hunting ground reach? Just imagining it excited Fang Nian so much he wanted to buy it immediately. After all, his wife was quite wealthy now. Though 500,000 was no small sum, it was not impossible.

But buying it without being able to use it would be frustrating. So to master the latest hunting ground template, Fang Nian must hurry to cultivate his constructor skills.

Finally, Fang Nian’s eyes landed on the demonic key—the key that could unlock nightmare-level missions at will.

Fang Nian felt conflicted. The nightmare-level mission he had activated through a special event almost cost him his life. If before, he had considered using the demonic key, now he truly did not want to. After all, risking his life at any moment was not something he wished to endure again.

“Still, I should claim the rewards I earned.”

With that thought, Fang Nian finally turned his gaze to the rewards of the last nightmare-level mission.